The next victim
by monkeyon
Summary: A very alternative short piece that sees Harry leave long before the original show.


The next victim by monkeyon

Silent witness fan fiction from the episode "Fatal error". Sam Ryan is being threatened by a serial killer and is under police guard.

"Me or Leo?" Harry asked Sam. Thankfully as she burst into a fit of giggles so did Harry and Leo. O.K. embarrassing moment averted.

Leo and Sam talk some more but then Leo hushes her. A little annoyed at first but as she followed Leo's pointed finger she could see Harry asleep still sitting up on the sofa.

"I'll get sleeping beauty a blanket." Leo said.

Sam goes to Harry and gently removes the wine glass that's about to topple out of his hand. She moves a hand to move some of his hair out of the way. Harry in his sleepy state feels the breath on his face and moves forward and finds Sam's lips and kisses her. She pulls back.

"Mmm." is Harrys only response.

"Harry." she whispers but he doesn't respond. He's fast asleep. Leos there with a blanket and wraps Harry in it tightly.

"Your personal chauffer is waiting for you." referring to her guard outside.

"What about Harry?"

"He can stay here; I'll bring him in tomorrow. Mind you, he looks like he could do with the rest."

"It's our fault, pulling him in two different directions over the case". Sam feels guilty.

"Can we cope if we give him the day off tomorrow?"

"I think we can manage." Sam smiles. All bonds mended.

Harry wakes and it's difficult to place where he is. He looks at his watch its 11 and its daylight.

"Shit." He jumps up and then falls back down. He's stiff, tired and he shouldn't ache like this at his age. When he finds energy he walks to his coat. Stuck to it is a note. "Harry, have the day off on us. Do something nice, do something young. Sam and Leo." Harry smiles to himself. He leaves Leo's making sure the door shuts behind him.

In the background behind the trees there's a lens poking through taking photos of Harry leaving Leo's.

The following day Harry is back at work. Things are still strange with the guard at Sam's side, well watching Casualty anyway in the next room.

Harry gets a call to the morgue and heads down to see what's going on. Soon Sam gets a call from Harry asking for help. As she gets there someone grabs her from behind. Soon her hands and mouth are bound.

"I wanted you to see the next victim you are responsible for letting die."

Sam is walked over to the slab where she sees Harry also bound and gagged lying out. Sam is forced to kneel over Harry.

"You cut up the dead people now we get to see what happens when the body on the slab is alive. " Sam is tied to a handle of one of the units. She can see Harry look over to her over his shoulder as much as his gag and other restrictions can allow. Patterson picks up the scissors and is cutting open Harrys shirt and then up his trouser legs. The ruined clothes are thrown to the floor. He has the scissors in his hand hovering above Harrys boxer clad waist. "Am I doing this right?" Then he cuts the boxers away so that Harry is now completely exposed.

Sam can't help but stare. She knows he's dragging it out. She wants her to suffer; he wants to torture her as much as he was to torture Harry. Soon the whirring of the electric shaver is rattling in the room. Harry is squirming as Patterson runs the shavers across areas of his body. The tingling is a strange sensation as he knows he shouldn't react to the vibration but it's difficult.

Patterson picks up a scalpel from the trolley. "Where do we start Dr Ryan?" He looks at Sam as he hovers the blade over Harry's chest. Sam starts to struggle. She has to stop him but she's stuck where she is. Soon all she can see is Harrys eyes shut as Patterson inserts the blade at the top of his chest and slides it down opening the skin and flesh. Harry's eyes blink then shut as he passes out. Blood is now running down the side of his body and pooling on the table. Soon it runs to the floor.

Paterson is laughing to himself. "What now, oh yes." He places the scalpel down on the trolley and goes to get the chest expander. "Oh but I want to know who he is, my John Doe…finger prints I think will be useful. He picks up the saw and holding Harrys hand out and then slams the blade through his finger on his right hand. Sam is trying not to choke on the vomit turning in her mouth. Patterson picks up the chest piece up as he puts Harrys finger on the trolley. He is about to use this when Sam hears commotion behind her. Soon Patterson is on the floor with a bullet wound on his forehead. Leo is at her side. "Harry you have to save Harry".

Leo races to Harry nearly slipping on the bloodied floor. He wraps Harrys hand up and then tries to close the large wound holding it together with his bare hands alone. Sam is with him removing Harrys gag. She grabs the plastic cloth they use to cover his decency.

It was the longest darkest night of their lives. They had taken Harry to surgery and sewn him up and reattached his finger. It was two more days before Harry woke up. He pushed himself up of the bed in a shocking movement sobbing.

"Harry its O.K."

"Uhhhh."

"Harry your safe." Sam holds him up but there's something wet on her hands. "Oh god Harry." she pushes the emergency button.

Leo finds Sam in the waiting room. "He pulled some of his stitches."

"He's O.K. though."

"No, I don't think he is. Leo you should have seen his face and his shriek. He looked so frightened, scared."

….

Harry never returned to pathology. He decided to retrain and became a general practitioner. He kept in contact over the years and was overjoyed to hear that Leo was remarrying.

The church service was sweet and sincere and Harry and Leo had a moment before it started as the death of his first wife still affected him. He knew it was time to move on with Janet but he was still emotional.

The reception was simple and brief. In the end Nikki, Harrys replacement and Sam both go to the pub for a late drink.

Nikki is collected later by her husband, a DI Mumford. It leaves Sam and Harry at the pub. Sam catches Harry just starring, zoning out.

"Harry."

"Sorry, it's just weird being back here."

"You left so fast all that time ago, I felt we never got to say goodbye."

"I still get dreams about that day, a fully grown man and I still have night terrors."

"Harry it has nothing to do with being young or old."

"No, I was so much greener back then."

"But you had promise Leo and I always saw it. Knew you'd be amazing pathologist."

"Well you were wrong." Harry ducked his head down. "Sorry you didn't deserve that."

"No but I understand why you feel the way you do." She takes a hand into hers. "There's not a day goes by that I regret what Patterson did to you. Harry I was there remember. If I could have stopped it I would have. If it could me on the slab I would have done…."

Harry pulls on her hand moving her into his reach and kisses her. "Now she shuts up."

Sam isn't sure where that came from. Internally she's wondering why Harry just kissed her. Is he that effected he needed some sort of comfort and she was the only one available. Harry smiles.

"When I had my issues I had to see a therapist. On some heavy shit for some of it but it helped me through the PTSS. I had to recall all of those last few days…..and I somehow somewhere remember a kiss, kissing you."

"Yes, you were asleep. You looked exhausted."

"So you molested me."

"No Harry never." Harry grabs her other hand and squeezes both. "I'm joking Sam."

"I don't know what happened you just kissed me. I was going to… well then Leo came in."

"Leo, bad timing as ever." Harry smiled.

"I don't think you were in any state to do more. I didn't think you remembered."

"I didn't not for a while but you end up racking through your memories questioning everything."

"And this kiss just now, you were awake, you look awake." Sam smiles at Harry.

"Mm I am and I was."

"And?"

"And it just felt right to do it. You didn't seem to mind. God I didn't think I'm sorry if…." Sam took all her bravado, energy and hope and put it into kissing Harry. She didn't care about being in public. Didn't even think how it must look with an older woman kissing a younger man. She just didn't care. The bell rang to call time behind the bar and they broke apart both smiling.

"Wow this is a bit of a twist."

"Unexpected even." Sam's eyes were shining and her Irish twang seems to be stronger as she spoke. "Come to mine for a coffee Harry."

"If you're sure."

"Yes, you."

"Never surer."

Harry never did return to pathology but moved back to London to be nearer to Sam. It wasn't easy to come back and the relationship with Sam had its moments. Finding out about her estranged son wasn't easy. Other people's reactions to them as a couple were mixed. However the people closest to them accepted them as a couple. Leo would often joke that they made him and Janet look like the older married couple.

The end.


End file.
